So here I am in India. Same as for my Sri Lanka trip, I am here for work to teach more physicians about eye injections. I am traveling with my best work travel partner, Ellie, for a week. Then I will leave for home and Ellie will continue to southern India for even more training.
We flew over on Qatar, from Atlanta to Doha to New Delhi. Since my last trip Qatar has opened up a terminal in the International Terminal of Atlanta, so it cut our trip down to just two legs - thankfully. Other than a significant amount of turbulence on the flight, we got out to Delhi without issue. We landed around 2AM, and the airport was bustling just as if it was mid day. Customs was easy, and thankfully all our luggage arrived without issue. As we moved from the gate closer to the exit of the airport, I could feel the air getting more and more humid and the temperature slowly increasing. By the time we found our driver outside of baggage claim I was officially hot. And when we walked outside the airport..oh my. It was very humid, stagnant, chemical-filled air that burned to breathe. Imagine sitting right next to a campfire with plastic melting in it - kinda what it felt like. Ellie and I looked at each other with a skeptical, well-lets-make-the-most-of-this expressions and followed our driver to the car. I'm not exactly sure what the car was, but it was something very small and our luggage almost didn't fit. Even the front seat next to the driver had suitcases in it!But it did have air conditioning, thankfully. Our kind driver insisted on showing us the city and pointing out various landmarks as we drove towards our hotel. Keep in mind that its after 3am at this point and you can barely make out anything. But he insisted we take pictures, so I've now got a nice collection blurry streetlamp photos with significant Delhi landmarks hazy in the distance. We arrived at the hotel and our car was thorough searched, including inspection of the trunk and under the hood of the car. Stepping out of the hotel we were hit in the face by the same hard-to-breathe hot air, and were then asked to go through metal detectors and have our bags scanned before we could enter. It was both unsettling and satisfying to know we were staying at such a secure place.
Our jet lag plan was to go to bed immediately and wake up for breakfast several hours later, and that's basically what we did. Breakfast was buffet style and very confusing. I ended up eating an egg white omelet (I think...) and some spicy potatoes and some hash browns. So far this trip has been very heavy on the starches.
After breakfast Ellie and I got the courage to venture out of the hotel and head to some market areas recommended to us by the front desk. The man at the front desk encouraged us to visit the government markets as much of the city is closed for a Muslim holiday. EVERYONE recommended we stay away from mosque as it would be crowded and we would really stick out. We took the subway to Connaught Center, which was a much nicer experience than I had anticipated. Definitely cleaner and smoother than MARTA. We certainly got many stares on the subway, as we were the only white people on the train. When we got off at the station, a man walked up to us and kindly suggested we take a tuk tuk to a market nearby. He hailed one for us and told us not to pay more than 20 RUP for the ride. We weren't sure if we were being hassled because we stood out so much as white women, but we figured for 20 RUP (about a $0.25 USD) we figured "Why not?". Sure enough, Viki, the driver, spoke great English and took us right to the CCCI, some sort of government owned creative market. There were lovely fabrics, Saris, scarves, tunics, and jewelry...and I bought a little of everything. I even tried on a Sari! And I have to say, they make you feel quite regal. I resisted the urge to purchase one, since I already have purchased a wedding dress. From there, our tuk tuk driver (who had waited for us, unbeknownst to us) took us to another Bazaar, and then onto some sites around Delhi. We saw several temples, the India Gate, the India Parliament, and the President's house. We got plenty of videos and pictures of the experience - it really was a great way to see Delhi. Even though the weather is hot, being in an open air tuk tuk kept us pretty cool most of the day. We had some great wedding conversations with Viki, who got married last year. He showed me a picture of him and his wife, both beautifully and colorfully gowned. I showed him a picture of my wedding dress and he laughed and said "it is plain, but if you like it, good for you". He saw the picture of Parker on my phone and said he was a "very handsome man," so at least I know the groom will look good in our wedding :).
Tuk tuk driver Viki took us back to the metro stop and proceeded to instigate a larger payment for his services than we had anticipated. After an awkward (at least it felt awkward to me) conversation, we ended paying him a total of $20 USD for his services. Absolutely worth it for us, but still frustrating to not know if you're being swindled because of who you are.
The plan for the rest of today is....to stay awake. We're going to eat at the hotel for dinner and then pat ourselves on the back for resisting the urge to nap. An early bed time is in my future, thats for sure.
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